Painful Memories
by Jesse1020
Summary: NAME CHANGE! Jesse is a vampire. She meets Kevin, Jez, and Jez's gang, and she tries to stop them from killing so many humans! I am bad at summaries! Rate and Review! Rated T for a reason! No lemons, sorry guys! PLZ DON'T STEAL, THEY ARE ALL MINE! PLZ!
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

It was my first day at a new school. I didn't know anybody, and I wasn't the kind of person that went up to people and made friends. Well, nobody wanted to be friends with me anyway. Who would? I may seem human, but really, I'm a vampire. My boyfriend changed me the year before. I would have died if he hadn't. Not that I regretted it, but sometimes I look back and wonder if I could have changed something, made it so that I didn't travel the road I was on now.

Anyway, I went to my classroom, and as soon as I walked in, everyone looked at me as if I had grown an extra head. Being the new kid was something you got used to when you moved as much as I did. And I liked the extra bubble of space everyone gave me. It was necessary.

I had been through about four or five different schools in the last year. My dad's job had kept us on the move a lot and about four years ago, my mom had had enough. She packed her bags and walked out. Since then my dad and I had been on our own. He didn't make a lot of money, but in the last couple of years, he had made an effort to save some so we could start a life up in this dreary town of Lloyd. Well, I guess Lloyd wasn't that bad, compared to some of the places I had been, but it only had _one _mall! I had been living in Banff before that, and I missed it terribly. Not only because it was were my boyfriend was buried, but it was so beautiful.

I wasn't the most well behaved teenager. I had to stay out late to be able to feed without being caught, and that didn't leave me in the best mood for school. I had never had many friends either. Humans seemed to naturally shy away from me.

I felt the stares of all of the kids bore into my back as I walked towards the teacher's desk. She gave me my books and sent me to my seat at the back of the class._Well, at least it's harder for them to stare at me back here_, I thought.

I was headed for the gym when I saw them. There were two of them, a boy and a girl. The boy had auburn hair and striking gray eyes. He was wearing a loose fitting green shirt with faded blue jeans. The girl looked more mature. She had wind-blown brownish red hair and silver-blue eyes. She was wearing a tight fitting, faded gray tank-top with black jeans. They were walking towards me, hand in hand, seeming oblivious to the stares that everyone was giving them. As they walked past me I scanned their minds but I couldn't even detect their presence.

_They're either really good at shielding their minds, or there is something wrong with me_, I thought. Then I over heard someone say,

"Wow, Jezebel and Kevin are looking as good as always". So, that was their names, Jezebel and Kevin. Just as I thought that, the one named Jezebel looked over at me. No, she didn't _look_, she _glared_. Suddenly I heard Kevin whisper to her,

"Come on Jez, let it go". Now what was that about? I decided to go find out. I walked up to them and introduced myself.

"Hey, I'm Jesse. I'm new here." Kevin looked up at me, but Jezebel just kept looking ahead until he kicked her foot. It was Kevin who answered me

"Hey, I'm Kevin and this is Jezebel. I heard you were coming over here." He smiled. I smiled back.

"Yeah well, I move from school to school a lot."I replied

"Really? Where were you going before?"

"I used to live in Banff." I told him.

"That's cool. Do you want to eat lunch with us later?"He asked. Jez glared at him and shot in before I could reply.

"But babe, we were going to eat with Danie today." _**Babe**_? _Oh, so __**that's**__ how it is_, I thought

"Well, Jesse can eat with them to." He said. I smiled sweetly at Jez. She pouted.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at lunch then." I said. "Okay, bye Jesse." Kevin replied.

"Bye Jesse." Jez mumbled.

* * *

After gym, I walked into the lunch room and scanned for Jezebel and Kevin, the way I would normally find someone. But, like before, I couldn't sense their minds. So, I went to find them the hard way.

I eventually found them in the back of the room. They were sitting with a bunch of tough looking kids. They all had trays of food in front of them, but no one was eating. The two girls whose names I didn't know were picking their food apart. I was only there a second before Kevin turned around and invited me to sit down. We sat and talked but still nobody touched their lunches.

_That's weird_, I thought. After the bell rang we wandered outside and started talking again. Suddenly, Kevin spun around and spoke.

"Can I talk to you alone please? It will only take a second."

"Umm, okay." I replied.

We walked around the other edge of the school and kept going down the block.

_What is he doing?_ I thought. Suddenly, he spun around and faced me.

"I know what you are." He said simply.

"W-what are you talking about?" I sputtered. I _thought_ I had been careful enough for no one to notice that I moved with extra speed and grace, because there is always the odd human that knew, or at least suspected, that vampires, shapeshifters, and witches existed, beyond the stories and fairytales.

Witches were a vast race, and a lot of the time you can't even tell that they were different. A long time ago, the master witches decided that they were strong enough to take down the other races, and a war began. This of course alerted the humans, and the vampires and werewolves sunk back into hiding. But the witches thought they could take the humans, kill them off, and kill the vampires in the process. How wrong they were. The humans retaliated, and hunted down the witches, until they were only a small amount of scared people, left on their own. They lived among the humans for many years, building up their numbers once again. But now they are more careful, making sure to cast their spells in secret, and also making sure not to cast spells that would attract attention to themselves.

The shapeshifters were a small race, but they didn't infect people by biting, like stories had told us. No, they infected people by entering their minds. They capture their victims, and use their eyes to control them, and then eventually change them.

I had only run across one in my lifetime. That was the reason I was changed. My old boyfriend, Tim and I had been walking through the woods when a giant leopard jumped out of the bush and knocked me down. I hadn't known at the time that Tim was a vampire.

He threw the creature off of me, but it was already too late. I was losing too much blood, so my only chance was for Tim to change me. He did it quickly, and it left me immobilized for a while. But I could still see and hear. The leopard had gotten back up as Tim was trying to carry me away. He wasn't quick enough to escape the creature with me in his arms, and I told him to drop me and go. But he wouldn't leave me. I yelled and screamed, but I couldn't move. He killed the creature but he was losing so much blood. I told him to run and find help but he said he wouldn't make it. He said he would rather die with me, than die alone in the wilderness. He lay there with my head on his shoulder as his life bled out of him. I cried and cried and kept saying "I love you". That was all I could get out. I fell asleep and when I woke, I was able to move, but there was a burning in my throat. I knew what I had become, but the first thing I did was bury Tim. I lay there for a long time, just crying, and crying………..

Suddenly I was snapped back into the present. Kevin was still starring at me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said again.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." He retorted. _Huh_, I thought, _this guy is stubborn, and since I can't get a read on him, I can't influence him. How am I going to get out of this one? Maybe I should just tell him the truth. _He was still waiting and I was still undecided. Suddenly, he spoke,

"Okay I know how hard it is to say it, so I'll go first." _What is this guy talking about??_ I thought. He sighed.

"I'm a vampire Jesse."

"W-w-what??" I stuttered. He continued,

"I. Am. A. Vampire." He said again. I shook my head in amazement.

"Wow, no wonder I couldn't get a read on you." I mumbled. "

"The rest of the guys that were with us are all made vampires" he continued. "They all make up Jez's gang. I'm a part to, but I don't go along with all the stuff they do. They can be pretty tough when hunting."

"No wonder I couldn't get a read on you." I mumbled again.

"Yes, Jez and I have become very good at shielding our minds. I can teach you, if you like." He said. _That would be cool_, I thought.

"Great, let's go back." He said.

"Wait a sec." I stopped. "Were you just reading my thoughts??" I asked.

"Oh, sorry." He muttered, blushing.

"That's okay, just don't do it again. Let's go back." I replied. _Wow, he's cute when he's shy_, I thought. That thought just made him blush deeper. I smiled.

"So, why does Jezebel hate me?" I asked.

"Well, first of all, don't call her Jezebel. Call her Jez. And second, she's scared you'll steal me away." He smiled. Now it was my turn to blush.

"Now, why would I do that?" I muttered. He laughed.

"I don't know. Just try and let her know you won't and I'll tell her to lighten up." He said.

"Okay." I agreed. But I couldn't help but wonder what would make Jez think that.

We walked back to the group in silence. We were at the edge of the school when the rest of the group came running around the corner.

"What took you so long?" Jez said. "We were worried sick. We thought you guys had been abducted or something." _Wow_, I thought._ I didn't know we had been gone that long_. Suddenly Kevin spoke,

"Yeah well, Jesse knows everything now, so we don't need to be careful."

"Oh that's good." Jez said. _Wow, she looks like she means it_, I thought.

"Okay, I can introduce you to the gang now. This is Jane." She pointed towards a small blonde that didn't look any older than fourteen. I smiled at her. She grinned back. "And this is Talon." She pointed to a guy that looked my age. When he looked at me I lost my breath. He had the most stunning green eyes and I found myself lost in them. He smiled timidly at me. Kevin coughed. Jez laughed. I shook my head and regained enough sense to smile back at him. Jez laughed again and the pointed towards another girl. "And this is Danie. She's our newest addition. We changed her just last month." Danie smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Okay so now you know everyone. We had better get to class." Kevin said. I looked at my watch. It was already 12:50 P.M. _Time flew by so fast_, I thought. We all rushed to our classes, promising to meet up after school. I was overjoyed when Talon told me that we were in the same class. _I wonder why I didn't notice him before_, I thought.

We had math, and we sat next to each other. Then I had Spanish, and was glad to see that Kevin and Jez were in this class as well.

Everyone else had left, and I was picking up my books. I started towards the door, and I caught my foot on a chair leg. My books went flying, and I fell to the ground.

"Look at me, the world's only clumsy vampire….." I muttered, scrambling around to pick up my books.

"Excuse me?" I heard from the door. My head shot up, and I saw a tall, sandy-blonde haired guy standing at the door.

"Uh, umm, well." I stuttered, trying to think of something to say. I looked up into his eyes, deciding to try and wipe his memory, but as soon as I did, he looked away.

"Sorry to disturb you..." He murmured. Just then Kevin walked in.

"Oh, hey." He said to me, and he glanced over at the blonde guy. "What are you looking at?" He asked, almost glaring at the guy. The guy didn't even flinch. He just slipped away, like a leave in the wind.

"Wait!" I called out. I didn't even get his name. "Come on Jesse." Kevin told me, and the look on his face reminded me of my best friend's big brother. I sighed, and followed him. We walked out of the classroom in silence, and went outside to wait for Jez and the gang.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey!" I called out, seeing Jez and the gang on the sidewalk. Jez ran over to me, and caught me in a quick hug. "Hey, you ready to go?" She asked me with a smile. Looks like I made a new best friend. I looked at her, confused. She turned her gaze to Kevin, and her smile melted into a frown. "You didn't tell her?" She sounded angry. I looked at him as well. He had a sheepish grin on his face. "Oh, yeah, it's Monday. The gang always goes out and has some 'fun' on Mondays." He said with a smirk. He projected some images into my mind, and my mouth fell open with a 'pop'. I snapped it shut again, and heard snickers from the group. "Shut up. It just caught me by surprise, that's all…" I muttered, looking from Jane, to Talon, to Danie. They kept on snickering, but Jez silenced them. "We have to wait until dark, why don't we go hang out at the mall?" All the guys audibly groaned. "Umm, why don't we go to The Sticks?" I suggested, and Talon shot me a grin. Jez pouted, but it looked like I had one the fight, for now.

*** * ***

Around ten o'clock, we all rounded up outside of The Sticks.

"Alright guys, you know the drill. I'll take Jesse for her first round." Jez announced, and Jane, Talon, and Danie grinned. Kevin sighed, and shook his head. Jane shot him a dirty look, and Kevin shot one right back.

"Meet back here at………let's say midnight. That gives you guys two hours. Three, two, one, go!" She called out, and suddenly we were alone. It was just Kevin, Jez and I.

"What??" I exclaimed. Jez sighed. "Come on, we can't let them beat us." She muttered. I grabbed her arm.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked. She spun around to face me, a sad smile on her face.

"Count how many humans you can kill before the time is up." I looked around, and saw that Kevin was gone already.

"Uh, no." I said, shaking my head. She sighed, and gave me a pleading look.

"Please Jesse, we need to do this." She said. I groaned.

"Aw come on Jez……" I muttered, but when she grabbed my arm again, I didn't protest.

*** * ***

"Hey!" I called out, seeing the gang ahead of us. Jez said I had to seem enthusiastic, or else they would think I didn't feed. "Hey, guys!" I called out again, and Talon turned to face me.

"How many?" He asked. His voice sounded lifeless, but his eyes were sparkling.

"Six." I told him, my chin high. He smirked at me.

"I got fifteen!" Danie called out, and she slapped hands with Jane. Jane had a smug smile on her face.

"I got eighteen." She said proudly. Kevin rolled his eyes, and then turned to face Jez.

"I got ten. Talon?" He questioned, glancing at Talon. Talon grimaced.

"I got eleven…" He muttered, shaking his head. Jane smiled smugly at the whole group.

"I won!" She called out, and she and Danie hugged. Kevin rolled his eyes again, and then he wrapped his arm around Jez's waist. He kissed her forehead, and she sighed. She glanced over at me, and threw me another sad smile.

_Wanna go? _She asked me, but her mouth didn't move. I tilted my head, and she shrugged. _It's a mind trick. _She said. I nodded to her, and she took a step away from Kevin.

"See you later babe." She whispered, standing up on her toes to peck him on the lips.

"Later." He murmured, and then he walked up to the group. Jez walked over to me, and we fell into an easy human pace. As soon as we were a good mile away, I turned my gaze to Jez.

"What the hell was that?" I asked. I was disgusted. Jez sighed.

"The gang……has conflicting opinions. Even though I'm the leader, there are more of them. I need to seem…… strong, not weak and sentimental." She seemed to struggle for the right words to explain it to me. I sighed, and wrapped my arm around her shoulders in a comforting way. She leaned into my side, and rested her head on my shoulder.

"It's hard, you know? But if I let them loose, they'll cause so much havoc, and expose all of us." She murmured, closing her eyes. I squeezed her shoulders comfortingly.

"But now there are three of us too." I told her, and she opened her eyes and smiled.

"Yes, yes there is." She said, and we kept walking, my arm around her shoulder.

*** * ***

The next day, I was walking to school because I had missed my bus. Out of nowhere a black mustang pulled up beside me. It was Talon. He asked me if I'd like a ride to school. Of course I said yes, and we started the fifteen minute drive to school.

It started off kind of awkwardly, neither of us said anything for the first few minutes. Suddenly, Talon turned to me.

"You didn't feed last night, did you?" He asked with a grimace.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said without looking at him.

"Don't joke with me Jesse." He said.

"I really have no idea what you're talking about Talon." I said again.

"Jesse, you can't fool me. You still aren't very good at shielding your thoughts." He smiled. I grimaced. I knew there had to be a reason that Talon would go so far out of his way to pick me up for school.

"I don't need to explain myself to you." I focused on filling my thoughts with anger.

"It's no use Jesse; I've already read your thoughts. But the others aren't going to be happy." He seemed to smile, and I gasped. "You wouldn't dare!" I nearly snarled at him. He laughed. "Try me." He said simply.

*** * ***

Class went by quickly, but Talon didn't show up. I was fuming the whole time. Jez kept throwing me worried glances, and Kevin kept asking me who made me this anger. It seemed to me that Kevin had taken over the role of the big brother in my life. I rolled my eyes every time he clenched his fists, demanding that I tell him who I was mad at. At least one good thing came of being this mad. No one could read my thoughts.

_Talon!!!!_ I screamed with my mind, seeing him in math. He looked up at me, and smirked.

_Yes?_ He asked innocently. I wanted to punch him.

_I swear to god Talon, if you told them I'll-_ I started, but I felt him cut me off.

_Tsk, tsk Jesse. You really think that lowly of me? _He said, and I laughed without humor.

_Yes._ I thought grimly, sitting down in my seat. I was drawing attention to myself, standing there. To everyone else, it seemed like I was standing there, staring at Talon. I shrugged my shoulders when Talon laughed out loud, and everyone turned and looked. "Shut up Talon." I muttered, and then tried to pay attention to the teacher. Since we were at the back of the classroom, the teacher didn't pay much attention to us. Talon knew this, and he used it. He reached across my desk, and ran his fingertips down my cheek. I swatted his hand away, and he chuckled softly.

_Aww come on Jesse. You don't want me to tell, do you? _He murmured, reaching over again. I squeezed my hands into fists until my knuckles turned white.

_You son of a bitch._ I snarled at him, turning my head to glare into his eyes. His face lit up, and he laughed inside my head.

_Come on Jesse……_ He murmured, just as the bell went.

"Great, lunch……" I muttered under my breath, and I walked out of the classroom. Talon followed me for a few minutes, but then he turned down a different hall. I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. Coming up to my locker, I opened it, and took my lunch out. Pulling out my cell phone as well, I texted Jez.

_**Eating outside. Ttyl?**_

She texted me back fairly quickly, and I looked at it.

_**Yeah, sure. Txt me when ur done.**_

I smiled, and put my phone in my pocket. I made a beeline for the nearest door, and not know the school all too well yet, I ended up behind the school. There was a dumpster beside me, and I could hear kids behind it, most likely smoking, cigarettes or otherwise. I started to make my way around, heading for the corner, when I was suddenly pushed up against the wall. The person wrapped their arms around my chest, and I pushed forward, but whoever was holding me here didn't budge.

_What the hell……TALON! _I screamed at him, shaking with anger. He kept his arms wrapped around my chest, trailing his nose down the side of my face.

_Talon! Let the fuck go of me!!! _I screamed, pushing with all my strength away from him. Once again, he didn't budge.

"Aren't you glad to see me?" He chuckled, pulling one of his arms from around me to cup my face.

"Don't touch me!" I snarled at him, not caring who heard.

"Now now Jesse. That isn't the way to talk, if you want me to keep your little secret…" He ended his sentence by drawing his hand down my chest. I spat in his face. He slapped me. "Don't do that again." He hissed at me, throwing me onto the ground. He was on top of me before I could get away.

"Get. Off. Of. ME!!" I snarled loudly at him, separating each word. He laughed, and pushed the hair back from my face.

"Now, Jesse, you don't seem to be in any condition to be making demands." He smiled, and seemed to be about to kiss me, when mystery boy walked around the corner. "What the hell are you doing to her?" He said, raising an eyebrow. On the outside, he seemed completely calm, but the anger leaked through in his voice.

I managed to speak.

"Get out of here." He was just going to get hurt. He didn't even look at me.

"Get off of her." He said, placing a hand on Talon's should. Talon smirked, and jumped off of me.

"As if I would listen to you." He said. I had enough sense to stand up, and for a moment, I thought that Talon was going to jump him. But blondie put both hands on Talon's shoulders, and flipped him over, and onto the ground. I was still pretty pissed at Talon, and I know that your never supposed to kick a man when he's down, but I couldn't resist. I walked over to him, and kicked him in the balls.

"_**Neve**__r _touch me again Talon." I told him, and then turned to blondie. "Thanks……" I started, my eyes asking for an explanation.

"I am what I am." He said, and shrugged. I didn't notice before, but he had a slightly English accent.

"So…you're a vampire?" I whispered the last part. He nodded, and I smiled. "Same. I'm Jesse. Just moved here." I told him, sticking my hand out. He took it, and raised it to his lips. He kissed my fingers, and I nearly swooned. He let go of my hand, and smiled.

"My name is Ryder. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, and he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Hello Ryder." I said, and my phone buzzed. "Just a sec…" I told him, and pulled it out of my pocket. I read it quickly.

_**Where the fuck are you???**_

It was from Jez. I shook my head, and typed back a quick reply.

_**Out back of school. Explain when you get here.**_

I could almost hear the questions now. I sighed, and stuck my phone back in my pocket. Ryder was staring at me, and when I looked up, his face leaked into a soft smile.

"How did you know where to find me?" I asked, tilting my head and raising an eyebrow. He shrugged.

"I heard the snarling." He said softly, and he chuckled. Oh my god. When he laughed, his face lit up, and he looked like an angel. I looked up again, because the laughter had stopped. He was blushing.

_Oh my fucking god!! He heard that!_ I thought, my cheeks turning blood red. He sighed, and then he was gone. Jez came out of the school at that point, and Talon got up, doubling over in pain.

"Where the hell did your bodyguard come from?" He growled, staring at me. At that point we weren't even bothered to shield our minds, and Jez had seen everything. She stood in front of me, and snarled at Talon.

"You fucking asshole." She hissed, stalking towards him. "You thought you could get away with it? That I wouldn't find out?" I walked up to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Jez, calm down. We don't want a fight here." A couple of the druggies had looked out from behind the dumpster, and they were peering at us. They seemed stoned, but I didn't want to take a chance. "Jez, come on." I said, pulling gently on her arm. For a second, I thought she was going to rip her arm out of my grasp, but she relaxed slightly.

"I swear to god Talon, what has gotten into you?" She whispered. He had done this before?


	3. Chapter 3

When Jez and I were alone, I started questioning her.

"Who else has he done that to?" I whispered, glancing at Jez from the corner of my eyes. She sighed, and answered in my head.

_It started when he was a human. We found him at a strip club, but he was mutilated. Some chick didn't like what he looked like, and it totally messed him up. He was dying of blood loss_**.** The story stopped for a moment as Jez turned to answer the teacher's question. Then she looked back to me.

_After he was turned, we explained everything, standard procedure. But he was angry with us. He wanted to die. But he got used to it, obviously._ I interrupted her by lifting a finger.

_But who was the first?_ I asked again. She sighed, and glanced around the room. There was a few people staring at us, but most were looking at the front of the room.

_Jane, but the kid is such a slut, she enjoyed it._ The sound of hate it Jez's voice surprised me.

_How old was Jane when she was turned?_ I asked, changing the subject slightly. Jez shrugged.

_She doesn't know. We found her scrounging the streets one night. She was the first in our gang. Talon came next, and then Danie, and now you._ She added with a smirk. The teacher called on me then, not that I minded.

We didn't get a chance to start the subject up again. When the bell rang, we walked out of the school together.

* * *

"Hey Jez?" I started, looking at her. We were sitting on a bench in the park, and I had started to think about Ryder again. She looked over at me.

"Yeah?" She asked, tilting her head.

"You've been here longer than I have, do you know a guy named Ryder?" She cocked an eyebrow at me, and I pulled up a picture of him, and showed it to her telepathically. Her face twisted into confusion.

"No, I don't. He's a vampire?" I nodded. She shook her head. "I haven't heard of him…" She seemed very disturbed by this. "And you've seen him before." It wasn't a question. I nodded.

"Yeah, after class. He heard me say I was a vampire. Scared the shit out of me." I said, looking around nervously. Nobody heard me. Good.

"I've never heard of him. Call me if you see him again, okay?" She asked, placing a hand comfortingly on my shoulder. Jez was a year older than me.

"Yeah, promise." I told her, and she wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

"I have to go; I'm meeting Kevin at 6. And then we are going out. Pick you up at…let's say 7?" She turned it into a question, and I smiled.

"Yeah, definitely. Now go. I don't want you to be late." She grinned at me, and then left at a human pace towards the car.

I looked around, as if I was expecting Ryder to pop up. I sighed, and lowered my gaze to my hands.

"Looking for someone?" I heard a voice say, and my head shot up. It was him, Ryder.

"Why so mysterious?" I said, ignoring his question. He shrugged, and didn't answer me. I pulled my cell phone out, so I could call Jez, but he shook his head.

"Please don't." He whispered, placing his hand over mine, the one that was holding the cell phone. I pulled my hands out from under his. "And why not?" I said. But now that I thought about it, he would probably disappear before Jez could get back here. "Why won't you let her see you?" I asked quietly, and he pulled me gently to my feet. He sighed.

"I've managed to stay hidden for this long." He said. I waited for him to continue, but he didn't. I sighed, and stepped away from him.

"So……" I started, but I wasn't quite sure what to say. He took a step away from me.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come…" And then he was gone.

"Wait!" I called out, but nothing happened. I growled in frustration, and a few people looked at me. I shook my head, and opened my cell. "Jez?" I said into the receiver, after it had rung a few times.

"Yeah." Her voice sounded distant, and I could hear Kevin chuckling in the background.

"Jez, get me off speaker phone. I need to talk to you." I heard the air move, and she growled into the receiver.

"Make it quick Jesse. I'm a bit busy over here." I heard Kevin laugh again, and I heard more movement. "Kev- stop! Give me a sec!" She giggled, and I heard a door closing. "Alright, what is it?" She sounded breathless.

"Ryder." I said simply, and I could almost hear her eyes widen. "I just left!" She said in amazement. I sighed in frustration.

"So did he." I told her. She groaned.  
"You have got to be kidding me!" She growled into the phone.

"Tell me about it. I just figured I'd tell you; go on back to whatever you were doing." The joking tone in my voice seemed to loosen the tension. Jez laughed.

"Yeah, alright. Bye Jesse." She said, and then she hung up.

"Bye." I said into the dead receiver. I sighed, and closed my phone. Slipping it into my pocket, I made my way towards the trees that surrounded the park.

As I weaved my way through the trees, a fog started to creep in. I could still see fine, but it was eerie. I broke into a dead run, slipping through gaps and holes. I was through the trees in seconds, and I made my way at a human pace back to my house. The fog was still moving in as I reached my door. The house we had was pretty small. We were renting it, and for the amount we paid, you would figure it was an eight bedroom, four bathroom mansion. But it was home. It had 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. My room had its own bathroom, as did my dad's. The kitchen was a bit small, and the living room left something to be desired, but it was all we had.

"Dad! I'm home!" I called ahead of me, and I heard shuffling from the living room. "Hey hon! How was school?" He asked, catching me in a tight bear hug. I laughed, and pushed him back as gently as I could. He nearly fell backwards. Shit! I internally cursed myself.

"Pretty good, I made some friends." Oh, and Talon tried to assault me, and I might have a stalker. Yeah, just a normal school day. He grunted as he regained his balance.

"Oh, that's good…" He said, folding his arms across his chest. I smiled at him, and then walked around him, heading for the stairs. My room was on the second floor. I reached the top of the stairs, and headed straight for my room.

"Hey dad?" I called down the stairs from my doorway.

"Yeah?" He called back up. I took a few steps out of the room so I wouldn't have to yell.

"I'm going out with my friends tonight. I won't be out late, alright?" I said as quickly as I could. It was already 7, and I told Jez I would meet her at 8. I heard him sigh.

"Yeah, alright." He said. It sounded like he wanted to tell me no, but I wasn't about to argue.

"Thanks!" I yelled, and I raced into my room. I only had an hour to get ready, and I was going to make the most of it.


	4. Chapter 4

_"__Jesse!!!" I heard the scream from outside, followed by multiple honks. I jumped up off my bed, shoving the picture back under my pillow. _

_"__Coming!!" I yelled as I ran down the stairs. "Love you dad!" I said, racing into the living room and pecking him on the cheek. He smiled at me, and then his face turned grim._

_"__Jesse, please be home before eleven." He made it sound like he was desperate. I didn't say anything, I just nodded._

___I ran out of the house, just as Jez began to lean on the horn. "Hurry up!!! We're going to be late!!" I jumped in beside her, and buckled up. _

_"__Safety first!" I joked, knowing that the car would be the only thing damaged on the off chance that we did crash. Jez laughed, and swerved onto the street. _

_"__Where are we headed?" I asked after a few minutes of driving. She grinned, and pretended to lock her lips and throw away the keys. I growled playfully at her. _

_"__That's not fair!" I whined, and she grinned wider._

_"__The guys made me swear not to tell you!" She complained, and it looked like it was killing her to keep the secret. _

_"__Can you at least give me a hint?" I begged, and her face lit up. _

_"__Yeah, I could do that! Let me see……" She seemed to be thinking of the best thing to tell me. She laughed again, and I laughed softly with her. _

_"__What?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. She just laughed again. _

_"__It's going to be fun!" She yelled, and I laughed with her this time._

_* * *_

"Cover your eyes!" She told me, and then reached across the car to wrap a cloth around my face.

"What the hell Jez!" I complained, but I didn't try to take the cloth off.

"We're almost there! You can't ruin the surprise!" She whined, and I sighed.

"Alright, alright! Just hurry up already!" It wasn't like I really needed my sight, my hearing was enough. But it was still unnerving. "Are we there yet?" I complained. I could hear music, and the bass was pumping against my ears. "Where are we?" I asked, but Jez ignored me.

"Come on! We have to go in!" She told me, pulling me out of the car. I groaned as the bass was pounded into my head.

"But it's so LOUD!" I had to scream as Jez pushed me through the door.  
"I KNOW! ISN'T IT GREAT!" She screamed at me, and took the blindfold off.

The first thing I saw was lights. Flashing lights, everywhere I looked. I screamed, and covered my eyes. Someone came up to be, and placed a hand on my shoulder. They lead me somewhere, and when I opened my eyes again, someone I didn't know was standing beside Jez, and I was in a bathroom. Apparently, this was the only place that didn't have blinding, flashing lights. The girl sighed, and looked over at Jez.

"You brought her here before conditioning her! You could have exposed us!" She snarled. Jez shrunk down, making herself smaller than I believed possible.

"Hello? Am I invisible? I'm right here!" I growled, standing next to Jez. The girl glared at me, and I glared right back. After a moment, she threw her hands up in the air.

"I give up Jez! I'm going to have to ban you if you keep doing this!" She said. Jez threw her a desperate look.

"Please don't Victoria! This is the only place that doesn't suspect us!" Jez begged. I sighed.  
"Can someone _please_ tell me what's going on!" I said, looking back and forth between the two girls. The one named Victoria looked over at me.

"You haven't even taught her how to hide her thoughts yet Jez. Your losing your touch." Her voice was mocking. Jez snarled at this point, past the begging.

"Says you." She said, taking a step towards her. I stepped in between them.

"GUYS! Please tell me what's going on!" Jez looked at me, and sighed.

"Jesse, this is Victoria. She's the owner of this club." Jez said. I stared at Victoria.

"Hello." I said. She nodded.

"Call me Vic." She said, and I smiled. "Now, why are we here?" I asked Jez, glaring at her. The desperate look was back.

"It's a tradition! We bring all our new additions to the gang here!" She told me. Her eyes begged, _**Please **__don't be mad at me!_ I sighed.

"It's alright Jez. I'm not mad." I told her, and she sighed in relief. "So, how about we go back out?" I asked, straightening out my mini skirt and v-neck tank top. Jez grinned, and grabbed my arm, leading me out of the bathroom. Vic shook her head in amazement, and followed us out.

I took it slow, focusing on the small areas of darkness, and pretty soon I could make out things besides the blinding lights. There were people sitting in booths, all around the sides. People were dancing on the dance floor, on the tables, on each other. The smell of alcohol covered any other scent that I could pick out, except for the smoke. It seemed to wrap around me, choking me. I tried to shake it off, with little success.

Jez grinned at me, and then dragged me over to the bar. "Two Coors." She told the bartender. He nodded, and reached into a fridge behind him, returning with the two beers.

"Thanks." I said as I grabbed mine, and took a sip. Jez did the same, and I grinned. Guys had just started noticing us, and most of them were stoned. One guy walked up to me, and spoke in a slurred voice. I laughed as he walked away, stumbling over a chair. "The guys here!" I said to Jez, taking another sip of beer.

"I know right! It is so damn funny!" Jez finished off her beer just as Kevin walked in. He made a beeline for her, and he looked anger. Must have been the crowd of guys that was surrounding us.

"Hey Kevin." I said when he reached us. He paid no attention to me. His eyes were glued to Jez.

"How many drinks has she had?" He asked me, his eyes never leaving hers. I shrugged.

"I don't know." But now that I thought about it, Jez did seem a little tipsy. Kevin growled softly.

"She has a very low tolerance for alcohol." He told me, shaking his head. I chuckled, and Jez started laughed.

"Come on Kev, live a little!" She grabbed someone's beer off the counter and was about to raise it to her lips, but Kevin took it away from her.

"We had better get out of here." Kevin said, taking Jez's hand. Jez pulled back, but Kevin didn't budge.

"Come on love." He murmured, pressing his lips against her ear so no one else could hear. Jez giggled, and then waved bye to all of the guys.

"Buhbye guys!" She called, nearly falling over a chair. Kevin caught her before she hit the floor, and held her against his chest.

"Don't crash on me now…" He whispered, and then nearly carried her out of the bar. I followed close behind, grinning when all the guys tried to follow.

"Bye boys!" I called, running out of the door and jumping in Jez's car. I looked at Kevin, confused. He was getting in the driver's side. "Didn't you bring a car?" I asked. He shook his head.

"When I heard she took you out, I came straight here." He told me. I shook my head.

"I don't understand. What's so bad about her having some drinks?" I asked, and Kevin growled in frustration, and then seemed to decide to tell me the whole story. "

"I changed Jez because she was sick. She had gone out partying, night after night after night. Her liver shut down, and the rest of her organs were following in suit. But there are some things that even vampire venom can't heal. Her liver is still weak, and if she crashes, I'm afraid I won't be able to bring her back." He was whispering by the end. "She would have died Jesse. She would have died." I smiled, and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"You did the right thing Kevin." I told him, but he just shook his head.

"She hated me for it. She told me she would rather die than be with me forever. I love her, I really do." He murmured. I sighed, and wrapped my arm around him in an awkward hug.

"She obviously doesn't hate you now. So stop blaming yourself." I told him, squeezing him gently before letting go, and leaning back into my seat. He sighed, and shook his head.

"I do, I do blame myself. Because it was completely my fault." He told me. I tilted my head.

"What did you do?" I questioned him. He turned to look out the window, like he was ashamed.

"I cheated on her."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey guys! Sorry for this being such a short chapter! But I've had a few more readers, and I figured, what the hell, may as well post another chapter! I haven't really asked for anything yet, but for the next chapter, maybe, I don't know, 5 reviews? From different people of course! ;) So thx for reading guys! Love y'all!**_

_**Btw, this is ALL mine! Please don't steal, all the characters, the story line, everything, is mine! So please, please, please, please, please don't steal!!!!**_

_**-Jesse  
**_

* * *

"What?" I snarled, leaning as far away from him as the car would allow, as if he were a disease. He kept looking out the window, and he was fidgeting, like he was nervous, or scared. _Good. Be scared_. I snarled at him in his mind. He turned to look at me, but his eyes never once rested on mine.

"_What_?" I snarled again, nearly shaking with anger. His eyes finally met mine, and they were terrified. He was ashamed of it.

"I'm so sorry." He told me, and I resisted the urge to smack him.

"You think I give a shit if you tell _me_ you're sorry?" I nearly screamed at him. He cringed away from me, nearly driving us off the road.

"I _told_ her! So many times!" He nearly screamed back. I looked into the backseat, and saw that Jez had nearly collapsed on the seat, a stupid grin on her face, eyes closed. Kevin looked back at her too, and then stomped on the gas, swerving around the car in front of him.

"Watch out!" I screamed as we missed the oncoming semi by mere feet. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I screamed in his face. My heart was beating a mile a minute, and my eyes were wide with fear and anger. He scowled at me, staring me full in the face.

"She's crashing. I need to get her to Jane." He growled, screaming past another car. I snarled at him.

"Why Jane? Talk to me Kevin!" I screamed at him. My voice was getting hoarse; I was going to be in tough shape for school tomorrow.

_Please, please, please_…… I suddenly heard Kevin think. The thought was so desperate; it washed every bit of anger away. I shook my head, trying to clear it. I could feel everything that he was feeling. The confusion, the anger, the sense of hopelessness.

"Kevin, calm down. You're projecting your thoughts." I told him. I wished I could take my own advice.

"Speak for yourself Jesse." He growled. My mouth fell open, and I quickly tried to cover my thoughts. Kevin laughed, a nervous sound.

"Nice try." He told me, chuckling still. I shook my head, and then returned to the subject.

"Why Jane? What can she do for Jez?" I asked again, staring Kevin in the face, because he wouldn't look at me. He kept his eyes on the road, only glancing at me.

"Jane is………gifted." He said, seeming to struggle for the right words. "She can……" He thought for a moment. "She can…heal people. Vampires, in particular. She doesn't exactly know how she does it, just that she can." He couldn't seem to come up with a better explanation. I sighed, and then leaned back into the seat, closing my eyes.

"Is she going to be okay?" I whispered. I was too tired to be angry any longer. And now that I thought about it, I hadn't fed in over twenty hours. The dry burn in my throat was like a wild fire, burning out of control. I tried to swallow past it, with little success. Kevin glanced over at me, and the big brother look had returned.

"You haven't fed." He said, sighing, and it almost sounded like he was disappointed.

"I already have a father Kevin, but thanks anyway." I hissed at him. He glared at me, but his eyes were staring at my throat. I moved, and his eyes followed. "What the hell?" I muttered. Kevin closed his eyes, and shook his head.

"We have to get Jez to Jane." He whispered, and then he stomped on the gas, and away we went.


End file.
